Richard Harsen Named Chief of Police at Pitt-Bradford


Richard Harsen

Richard Harsen has been named as chief of police at Pitt-Bradford. He succeeds Dan Songer, who retired Jan. 6 after 20 years as Pitt-Bradford’s police chief. Harsen will supervise eight full-time and eight part-time commissioned police officers and two communications room personnel.

Harsen served 32 years with the Bradford city police, many of those as a juvenile officer and school resource officer. He became a part-time officer with UPB campus police in 2005, joining the campus police force as a full-time officer in 2015. In addition to his work as a juvenile officer and a middle school resource officer, Harsen coached youth softball, baseball, football and basketball for 18 years. While with the city police, he helped to start the city’s drug abuse resistance education program. 

Harsen plans to work closely with the campus’s resident assistants, who are often the first point of contact for students who need help. He also has been trained in interviewing techniques for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.